Have a healthy diet in pregnancy

A healthy diet is an important part of a healthy lifestyle at any time, but is especially vital if you're pregnant or planning a pregnancy. Eating healthily during pregnancy will help your baby to develop and grow.

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You will probably find that you are hungrier than usual, but you don't need to "eat for two" – even if you are expecting twins or triplets.

Have a healthy breakfast every day, because this can help you to avoid snacking on foods that are high in fat and sugar.

Eating healthily often means just changing the amounts of different foods you eat so that your diet is varied, rather than cutting out all your favourites. You can use the eatwell plate to get the balance of your diet right. The eatwell plate shows you how much to eat from each food group.

You will need to be careful with your diet if you develop gestational diabetes – your doctor or midwife will advise you.

Fruit and vegetables in pregnancy

Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables because these provide vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre, which helps digestion and can help prevent constipation.

Eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day – these can be fresh, frozen, canned, dried or juiced. Always wash them carefully.

Starchy foods (carbohydrates) in pregnancy

Starchy foods are an important source of energy, vitamins and fibre, and are satisfying without containing too many calories. They include bread, potatoes, breakfast cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, maize, millet, oats, sweet potatoes, yams and cornmeal.

These foods should be the main part of every meal. Choose wholemeal instead of processed (white) varieties, or potatoes with their skins on, when you can as they contain more fibre.

Protein in pregnancy

Eat some protein foods every day. Sources of protein include:

meat (but avoid liver)

fish

poultry

eggs

beans

pulses

nuts

Choose lean meat, remove the skin from poultry, and try not to add extra fat or oil when cooking meat. Read more about eating meat in a healthy way.

Make sure eggs, poultry, burgers, sausages and whole cuts of meat such as lamb, beef and pork are cooked all the way through. Check that there is no pink meat, and that juices have no pink or red in them.

Foods that are high in fat, sugar or both

Sugary foods and drinks are often high in calories which can contribute to weight gain. Having sugary foods and drinks can also lead to tooth decay.

Fat is very high in calories, so eating too many fatty foods or eating them too often can make you put on weight. Having too much saturated fat can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which increases the chance of developing heart disease. Try to cut down on saturated fat, and have small amounts of foods rich in unsaturated fat instead. Find out about saturated and unsaturated fat.

Healthy snacks in pregnancy

If you get hungry between meals, try not to eat snacks that are high in fat and/or sugar, such as sweets, biscuits, crisps or chocolate. Instead, choose something healthier, such as:

Preparing food safely

Wash fruit, vegetables and salads to remove all traces of soil, which may contain toxoplasma, a parasite that can cause toxoplasmosis – which can harm your unborn baby.

Wash all surfaces and utensils, and your hands, after preparing raw meat – this will help to avoid toxoplasmosis.

Make sure that raw foods are stored separately from ready-to-eat foods, otherwise there's a risk of contamination. This is to avoid other types of food poisoning from meat (such as salmonella, campylobacter and E.coli).

Use a separate chopping board for raw meats.

Heat ready meals until they're piping hot all the way through – this is especially important for meals containing poultry.

You also need to make sure that some foods, such as eggs, poultry, burgers, sausages and whole cuts of meat like lamb, beef and pork are cooked very thoroughly. For tips, read Foods to avoid in pregnancy.

Healthy Start vouchers for pregnant women

The Healthy Start scheme provides vouchers to pregnant women and families who qualify. The vouchers can be used to buy milk and plain fresh and frozen vegetables at local shops. You'll also get coupons that can be exchanged for free vitamins locally.

You qualify for Healthy Start if you’re at least 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under four years old, and you or your family get:

Income Support

Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

Child Tax Credit (but not Working Tax Credit, unless your family is receiving Working Tax Credit run-on only*) and has an annual family income of £16,190 or less (2014/15)

If you are pregnant and under 18 years old, you qualify for Healthy Start vouchers regardless of your income.

*Working Tax Credit run-on is the Working Tax Credit you receive in the four weeks immediately after you have stopped working for 16 hours per week (single adults) or 24 hours per week (couples).

If you are claiming Universal Credit and are pregnant or have a child under four years old, call the Healthy Start helpline on 0345 607 6823 for information about any discretionary support that may be available.

papaqur said on 12 May 2012

I would like to know if their is a recommended amount of water/liquid to drink when pregnant, my midwife said i should be drinking between 2 and 3 L which seems loads, it would be useful to have a section on this.

Hannah Parker said on 16 January 2012

I have recently discovered that I am pregnant (I'm now about 10 weeks) with my first child. I didn't know the first thing about what I should be eating, if I could exercise, etc. etc. so I have found the information above and on related pages completely invaluable - Not only is it useful for pregnant people, but I also never knew how to prepare sushi and it looks as though I could have been poisoning myself for years! Whoops.

I have started a blog about my experience as a first time mum with no idea, which you can see here: www.mumsdays.com and I reference the above content quite a bit.

User549645 said on 21 April 2011

I'm a PhD student on a stipend. I've supported my family since my husband lost his job and has so far been unable to secure another one. However as he is a foreign national and I am technically a student not an employee neither of us claim benefits.

The upshot is my baby is not considered worth the healthy start vouchers other babies are entitled to. Her health is considered of fundamentally less value than that of other babies, because I work on cancer research instead of claiming benefits.